


No Goodbye, Farewell or Amen

by Aussiefan70



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Angst, Disability, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Major Character Injury, Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-21
Updated: 2016-08-21
Packaged: 2018-08-10 01:29:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7824910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aussiefan70/pseuds/Aussiefan70
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Title is because I'm an unashamed MASH fan.</p><p>As for the rest, I couldn't resist contributing to the angst war.  Sorry....I'm not sure what weird part of my brain drove this.</p><p>Gifted to DarkJediQueen and Rivermoon1970, because you started it.  Oh and Susspencer because you showed we could all come out and  play.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Goodbye, Farewell or Amen

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DarkJediQueen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkJediQueen/gifts), [Rivermoon1970](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rivermoon1970/gifts), [Susspencer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Susspencer/gifts).



The BAU team was gathered, disbelieving, on the boat dock in Locust Shade Park.  Only three or four miles from the FBI Academy and BAU headquarters, the park was gorgeous in its autumn colours of red, orange and gold.

They stared down into the water, unable to accept what they were seeing.  A power wheelchair was capsized, upside down, around 15 feet below them.  It's occupant was no longer there.

Aaron Hotchner had received the call several hours before, from George Washington Medical Center.  Apparently, despite all that had passed, he was still listed as Reid's medical proxy.  He'd been informed the BAU's resident genius (or former genius, to be exact) had been declared dead on arrival at the ER, after an apparent drowning.  It was being investigated as a suicide.

Hotch's mind couldn't help but roll back to that day, nine months before.  He and Reid had driven out to do a custodial interview with a serial rapist, locked up in West Virginia.  It had been the height of winter, and Reid had been concerned with the snow and ice on the drive out.  After a long day with the convicted rapist, and falling temperatures, he'd nervously suggested that they find a hotel and make the rest of the drive in the morning.  But Hotch, confident in his driving skills, demurred and insisted they would be fine to return home.

And it was almost true.  They made it out of the mountains, despite the snow and ice.  They were only fifteen minutes from Quantico when a drunk driver ran a red light and hit them, doing what was later estimated to be 90 miles an hour.  He hit the Bureau SUV with such force that they were slammed into a nearby field, rolling several times.

Hotch was lucky.  Being on the opposite side of the vehicle to the collision, he sustained only a concussion and a broken wrist.  Spencer wasn't nearly so lucky.  He was directly impacted and then crushed down in the collapse of the SUV's roof in the rollover.  After 90 minutes, emergency services finally extracted him and airlifted him to the closest trauma centre.  

Hours later the team, summoned by Hotch, heard the fateful words.  Spencer Reid had sustained a complete spinal cord injury at the level of C3-4.  He was able to breath on his own, but would have little to no active movement in his arms or the rest of his body.  His days as a member of the BAU were over.  He would dependent on others for all of his basic functions for the rest of his life.

Over the next few weeks, every member of the team tried to get in to see Reid, but he steadfastly refused all visitors.  Determined to manage his new life alone, he finally allowed Hotch to visit one single time, simply to get the point across.  He was adamant, he couldn't be part of the team any longer, even as friends.  He couldn't see there was any worth in himself anymore.  Despite being the least physical member of the BAU, and having the greatest capacity to offer himself as an astonishingly useful brain, his spinal cord injury had seemingly divorced him from accessing the magnificent mind that had made him into the very capable agent that he was.

After that, he stayed disconnected from his former teammates.  He took medical retirement and disability, found paid caregivers to meet his physical needs.  But he couldn't rein in that brain for long.  Boredom struck, as well as self pity.  You can't read at 20,000 words per minute when you rely on someone else to turn the pages.  There was no meaning to life any more.  

And so, on a gorgeous fall day, Dr Spencer Reid activated his voice operated computer, and searched online for parks with lakes, close to his Quantico apartment.  He found Locust Shade park, with lovely detailed pictures of the boat docks, and a ramp that looked accessible to a wheelchair.   

He sent his caregiver out grocery shopping, assuring her he would be fine for a few hours.  Then he used voice commands on his cell phone to call a cab company that had wheelchair accessible vans.

Twenty minutes later he was on his way, explaining to the cab driver he was meeting friends for a picnic.  Afterwards, the driver remarked on how calm and laid back he was.

Spencer was dropped at the parking lot closest to the boat docks.  

He swiftly checked out that he was alone in the area and directed his power chair down the ramp onto the dock, using the sip and puff controls.  With effort, he switched the controllers to maximal speed, aimed for the end of the dock, and set the chair in motion.  

Without hesitation, he collided with the small lip at the edge of the dock and kept going, as he was launched face first into the water, followed closely by his chair.  He allowed himself to sink into the watery depths, not struggling, though he knew he had too little motor control to effectively do anything anyway.  That's why he'd chosen this way out.

And so, four hours later, his former teammates stood on the same dock, staring at the chair in the water and trying to reconcile their loss.  But there was nothing that would make this better.   Their youngest, most compassionate and brilliant member was gone, and would never return again.


End file.
